


Lara Croft: Teenage Werewolf

by Ymiriolli



Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F, High School, Lara has issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Werewolf Lara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 17:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14266197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ymiriolli/pseuds/Ymiriolli
Summary: Sam is working her part time job at the local cafe when a new face shows up. The mysterious girl is covered in scars from head to toe and is not the most socially adept, but Sam takes an instant liking to her.





	1. Double shot of espresso

**Author's Note:**

> This may eventually be edited. i don't know. I'm at school rn and i wrote this instead of doing actual work because werewolf Lara idea appeared in my brain. Next chapter should start to have actual werewolf Lara

It was 3:34 in the afternoon. Ashley was yelling at me for being late to my shift for the third time this week, and like usual, I was more or less tuning her out. What was the big deal about being a couple minutes late? I worked at a cafe, for christ’s sake. And it's not like we were ever busy. I think the most traffic we ever saw here was when we had free scones when you’d buy a large coffee. There was like, a line of maybe ten people. Not exactly a lot of people, but it tripled our sales for the week.

By the end of Ashley’s rant she was threatening to dock my pay if I was late again tomorrow. Even though it was calling for heavy freezing rain tomorrow. There was almost no way I could even hope to make it on time. I had slipped and fell on my ass three times just walking here when the sidewalks weren’t covered in two centimeters of ice. I was NOT enjoying having to walk everywhere for the next month. Stupid speeding ticket. What kind of bullshit cop suspends a high schooler’s license for only three speeding tickets… Okay maybe it was justified but come on. He didn’t even fall for my tactic of pouting and showing cleavage.

It was almost 3:50 by the time I managed to escape my supervisor’s wrath and get onto the floor for my shift. Cue another boring four hour shift of standing behind a cash register and intentionally misspelling my friends’ names on their brown paper cups. Or that’s what I had expected. What I hadn’t expected was to see a new face walk through the door, trudging nervously behind Mr. Roth, my high school’s environmental studies teacher. That course was basically just an excuse for the students to take monthly camping trips in the warmer seasons.

My first thought was maybe that it was his daughter, but she didn’t look anything like the tall, greying man. Aside from maybe the myriad of scars visible from a good twenty feet away. My second thought was admittedly a lot more likely. I remembered overhearing him talking with the other teachers about his goddaughter coming to live with him. This must be her. It would definitely make sense.

As the two made it to the counter i was already punching in Mr. Roth’s usual large coffee with one cream, and a slice of rhubarb pie. I wrote Roth in large cursive writing across his cup as i turned to fully look at the girl standing beside him. She was taller than me by a good few inches, and her brown eyes were looking everywhere but me. She was probably just nervous, not knowing anyone aside from Mr. Roth in this town. After taking a solid minute and a half to stare at the chalk-on-blackboard menu, in which i managed to take into memory a solid mental image of the new face, the teenager stuttered out her order in a British accent that flowed through my spine with a pleasant chill. Weird. 

I punched in her blueberry scone and double shot of espresso as i asked her name-”for the cup.” I scrawled it across her cup and told Roth it’d be ready at the other side of the counter as i handed him his change. The next half an hour passed with me taking glances at the new girl every chance i got, trying my best not to be too obviously interested in seeing an unfamiliar person in this town. It's not like it happened on a regular basis. I would be texting this to Kaz and Jonah on my break. I would have to fight the urge to also text it to half the school. The last thing I wanted was to get everyone talking about her before her first day had even begun. I wasn’t a complete bitch.

After Mr. Roth and Lara left-i had to make sure to remember that- the remaining three hours of my shift went fairly quickly. Before i knew it it was time for my break, during which i scarfed down a bagel sandwich and excitedly texted my few close friends about meeting a fabled ‘new girl’. Once my break was over the hour I had left passed with a record low of no customers, so I was forced to clean the latte machine. I scalded my hand twice by accidentally hitting the button for the steamed milk thing- I swear i will never remember the actual names of all the parts on this stupid machine.

One hour-and submerging my hand in a basin of ice water- later, I was free to go home. My father had spent ten minutes sitting at a table in the corner waiting for my shift to end so he could drive me home. I asked him last week why he insisted on driving me home at night if he made me walk to work, and all he said was that he wanted me to be safe and wandering around at night wasn’t safe. Because you know, it’s not like we live in a town where everyone knows each other. Walking home would’ve been no worse than walking to work. It was like as soon as the sun went down my father viewed everyone in town as if they were muggers.

I had learned early on not to question my dad’s protectiveness. He would probably never get over his fear of something happening to his only daughter. Meanwhile my brothers had always been allowed to stay out a good hour longer than i ever could. By the time they were sixteen they didn’t even have a curfew. I still have to be home by 9:30. The only bright side to being the only daughter was that i was a lot more ‘spoiled’ as my brothers worded it. I got a new car for my birthday, when they had only gotten used 2009 toyotas. I was allowed to carry around my Dad’s credit card wherever i went “Just in case i needed anything”.

I won’t lie, the good far outweighed the bad on that, but not being able to walk anywhere at night was pretty shitty. Especially now that i didn’t have a car for freedom. The only exceptions to my curfew were when i would go out to parties under the guise of “Sleeping over at Kaz’s place to study and have a girl’s night.” It always worked. My parents saw Kaz for the brilliant, well mannered honor student she acted like around them. Little did they know her perfect grades were a result of hacking into the school’s report system or whatever computery jargon it was called. I even got her to bump up my grades a letter, apart from my film studies and drama classes that i actually managed to do well in.

I let myself zone out with my thoughts for the ride home, earbuds in and music blasting through the tiny speakers. My earbuds stayed in while i reheated my bowl of curry in the microwave, as well as while i ate in the empty dining room. I only took them out once i was upstairs in my room, sitting at my laptop. By the time I was finished editing the short film I had to present for class tomorrow it was already nearly midnight. I decided to shower in the morning, too tired to care that i smelled like stale coffee and the chicken salad i had dropped on my shirt while making the creepy guy named Matt or something his weekly croissant sandwich.

I changed into my pyjamas and crawled into my bed, the only thought running through my head was that of Lara and her accent. Tomorrow was going to be a good day, even despite the weather forecast being dismal. I fell asleep hoping it wasn’t going to be a snow day, and that the freezing rain would melt before i had to walk to school in the morning.


	2. Coffee Grounds and Mountain Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS. Lara's perspective appears!

When I got to the small town Roth called home I was practically overwhelmed at how underwhelming the whole place was. I guess I was expecting a bit more of a city. I had prepared myself for all the loud noises and the smells of car exhaust and trash. The crowds of people all rushing to get to wherever they were going. I had been dreading the possibility of barely breathable air and people invading my personal space from every angle.

Don’t get me wrong. I was far from disappointed when we arrived in Maplefield. I had been cooped up in the city far too long. Sure, I had free run of my parents’ estate in London, but I was still confined to the city. Not much room to stretch my legs, especially when I got antsy. People never reacted well to my skulking around the city at night. A few of my scars were testament to that.

I was taken out of my musings by Roth clearing his throat loudly. I hadn’t even realized the car stopped. Looking up, I was surprised to find that instead of my guardian’s home, we were out front of a cafe. The scent of freshly brewed coffee and dry tea leaves permeated the air. I could smell blueberries and rhubarb, bergamot oil and chamomile. The wonderful aromas short-circuited my brain. I hadn’t had an appetite in days, but suddenly I was salivating at the smell of food. For the time being at least, i could shove away my guilt and self loathing with the prospect of stopping my stomach from digesting itself.

Roth laughed, catching sight of me practically drooling over the smells coming from the small building. For once in my life I didn’t care that I looked like a starved animal. Because this time I actually was one. The last meal I had been able to keep down had been a week ago. I mentally shook my head of the thought. Best not to dwell.

Grabbing the handle of the cafe’s door, I pulled it open for Roth to step in ahead of me. I was wary. Perhaps to an unnecessary extent. Roth knowingly walked a step ahead of me towards the counter, knowingly patting my shoulder in silent reassurance. He was understanding of my jumpiness, letting me know that it was okay for me to take my time adjusting back to a somewhat normal life.

My gaze roamed around the cafe as we made our way over to the counter. The place was fairly empty. Only one person sat off in a corner, sipping away at what smelled like Earl Grey tea, and typing something on her laptop. There were two people behind the counter. One was a woman who looked to be about thirty, with blonde hair and a nametag claiming she was the manager. The other was a girl around my age. She was shorter than me, though fairly tall considering her obviously being of South-East Asian descent. I wasn’t completely sure, but she also looked to be possibly South-European.

She had deep black hair that fell to just above her shoulders, and deep brown eyes carrying a friendly expression. Her face was blanketed with a faint splattering of freckles, adding to Lara’s suspicion of some sort of European ancestry.

“Alright. The usual for you, and I’m assuming your orders are going to be together, so what can I do for you, Sweetie?” The girl’s voice rang out soft and sweet. It took me a solid five seconds to realize she was talking to me. It took me even longer to form a response, my eyes wandering the chalkboard menu behind the counter. Of course, this was not England, so just asking for tea would undoubtedly get me a response of being asked what kind, and I would inevitably stutter out something reminiscent of the sounds a cat makes when in distress.

“I-I’ll just have a double shot of espresso a-and a um...blueberry scone…” I trailed off, cringing at how horribly I pulled off simple human interaction. The girl only smiled widely and punched in my order, shrugging off my awkwardness. She turned to face Roth and read him the total for the order.

Then she turned back to face me and grabbed the paper cup for my espresso, the black permanent marker resting just above the surface. “Can I get your name?” she chuckled at my confused reaction. “For the cup, sweetie.” Oh. Right.

“Lara. My uh. My name is Lara. J-just spelled L.A.R.A.” I was probably making a fool of myself with all my stuttering. I decided to fall silent then, gripping the hem of my leather jacket and dropping my eyes down to the cup that now had my name scrawled across it in surprisingly elegant cursive. I thought America didn’t teach cursive these days, then again the last time I had visited the United States I was eleven, and I definitely didn’t spend much time talking about the school system here.

As we moved towards the pick up counter I took note of the girl’s-her nametag said Samantha- scent. Intermingled into the usual smells associated with working at a cafe I picked up on a lightly flowery perfume. There was also the smell of a photo developer. Perhaps she had a photography class at the highschool. I could tell she used the same laundry detergent as Roth by the way their clothes both smelled of ‘Mountain Rain’. Nothing like the real thing, but Roth told me he liked it anyways. Samantha also smelled a bit like lilacs and tiger lilies, not from the perfume, it was too natural. Perfume like the one she was wearing always smelled like chemicals mixed with water that had flowers stagnating in it.

I could feel her watching us as we made our way over to Roth’s ‘usual seat’ by the window. Sitting myself at the chair across from my father’s best friend, I tried not to notice the glances thrown my way, electing to sip quietly at my espresso while Roth went on about how he had already registered me in the high school, saying I would be able to go over what classes I would take with the principle in the morning. He told me about a few of the courses he thought I might be interested in, including the Environmental Studies course. I turned him down on that one when he mentioned going on two day camping trips with the entire class. I loved camping, but I did not want to camp in a group of rowdy teens that cared more about what they were having for lunch than quietly taking in the scenery.

Roth assured me that once the school year was over he would take me for one of our good old fashioned hiking trips. I was looking forward to it, even though it was usually something my father organized. I had missed going into the woods and hunting and fishing for our own food. That was real camping. Not like the ‘glamping’ Roth did with his class. Of course I couldn’t blame him. The school had regulations about the safety of its students. 

When I heard the mention of an ancient mythology course I perked up, causing my guardian to chuckle, knowing he had won me over on that one. The rest of our time at the cafe passed with Roth talking about the school, the town, and the surrounding area. I offered a comment here and there, but I mostly let him talk. It was soothing to hear his Yorkshire accent after so long. He had moved to America to teach four years ago, still keeping in contact. But he hadn’t visited last summer. I had missed him dearly. Being stuck in london while my father was in Cambodia had been utterly horrible.

It had been just over two years ago when I started getting what my father called ‘the itch’. That itch was what led to the scar on my lower left abdomen a few weeks after my fourteenth birthday. Thinking about it still made the muscles there contract in the ghost of the pain. Being impaled bloody hurt. When the doctors had asked what happened I lied and told them I had fallen on a piece of rebar while practicing parkour. It was an easy lie. Parkour accidents had become fairly commonplace in recent years.

We finished up at the cafe and drove out to Roth’s home at the edge of town. My belongings had been shipped here last week, the boxes waiting for me in the room I would now be living in. aside from a new bed, a few bookshelves, and a wardrobe the room was bare. The boxes beckoned for me to unpack. I spent until nine in the evening doing just that. Halfway through my first box of books Roth called me to supper. When I told him I wasn’t hungry he argued with me, winning on the point of how quickly I had finished my scone at the cafe. I blushed bright red, remembering the surprise on the old man’s face as I scarfed down the pastry in seconds. 

I ate dinner in silence, pushing around the meat on my plate, stomach churning every time I took a bite. Roth was a decent cook, but the thought of eating meat was currently revolting to me. Roth stared at me with a concerned look on his face when i excused myself from the table, roast beef almost untouched. I scraped my leavings out into the bin and quickly washed my plate and cutlery. For some reason the thought of someone worrying about me made my blood boil. I shoved down my defensiveness as best i could, and the anger eventually dissipated.

I refused to let my emotions get the best of me. Fighting with my guardian on my first night here was not something to be desired. Roth must have noticed the itch creeping up on me. It was easy for him to see the way I kept glancing to the back door. How my breathing quickened ever so slightly, and sweat began beading on my forehead. It was not unbearably strong today, and would not be for another three weeks. He put a weathered hand on my shoulder. “Come. We’ll go for a quick run of the property before bed.”

I was grateful. My father had never had much trouble with the itch, so when I began getting in trouble and landing myself in hospital multiple times a month he expressed great disappointment. He told me it was ‘un-ladylike’ and that I was ‘being childish’ whenever I told him I hated living in London. Roth, on the other hand, had always been more understanding. I remember calling him during a particularly bad night. In part it was just to hear his voice, but the main reason was because I had got myself landed in the drunk tank on my fifteenth birthday. I had known that if I called my father he would yell at me, telling me I could stay there for the night as punishment. Roth said he would talk some sense into him for me. When my father bailed me out an hour later he told me not to talk about it.

The run was pleasant, and by the time we made it back to the house I was thoroughly exhausted. Roth actually had a decent property. “I actually own 500 acres. Mostly forest in the back,” he had stated at my appreciation. We had turned back around the halfway point, Roth telling me I needed to get my rest. “You have a big day tomorrow. And you can finish unpacking after you’re back from school.” I groaned at that, but my energy was running low and I decided to take a shower. I had to wash the smell of sweat and dirt off of me.

The hot water felt wonderful, and after washing the grime off of myself I was thoroughly exhausted. I changed into a warm pair of pyjamas and flopped into bed, pulling my duvet over my head and curling up into a comfortable ball amongst the fabric. It took me all of ten seconds to fall asleep. That was probably in part because I hadn’t slept more than two hours in the past few days. My dreams were full of the scent of coffee grounds and blueberries.


	3. Teasing the New Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, guys. It's been a rough month, and the sea isn't calm yet for me.

When I looked out my bedroom window the next morning I was delighted to see a distinct lack of ice on the sidewalks and roads. The front yard was still covered in a light blanket of wet snow, but at least spring was finally starting to show up. Now hopefully it stayed spring. I would prefer not to fall on my ass ten times a day.

After a quiet breakfast I made my way over to the bus stop. I hated having to take the bus, but without my license it couldn’t be helped. It took longer than usual for the bus to come, and while I was waiting I texted Kaz about my film project. I was so pumped to turn it in. It was definitely my best work so far. Sure, it was an overworked topic, but they didn’t give us much to choose from. I couldn’t wait for college. Surely I would have more freedom in my work than I did with high school classes.

One uneventful bus ride later, I was walking across the school parking lot. As my eyes scanned the crowd I saw Lucya and Alex getting out of Lucya’s car, followed by Kaz, Lucya’s girlfriend and Alex’s sister. Kaz took he girlfriend’s hand as she waved to me with the other. I gracefully slipped on the ONLY patch of ice in the entire parking lot as I walked over to my friends. They laughed at the small squeak I let out as I was picked up off the ground by my armpits. Jonah let out a small chuckle as he set me back on my feet. For a hulking Polynesian man, he could really sneak up on you.

As our group made our way into the building they asked me to tell them more about this new girl. I told them every detail about her visit with Mr. Roth to the cafe, trailing off before I could mention how pretty she was. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her standing in the waiting room to the principal’s office. I hastily broke off from my friends, yelling something about the principal wanting to talk to me as I walked away. I just didn’t want them crowding her on her first day here. Yeah...that’s what it was…

I sidled up to Lara, making sure to announce my presence before i got into her personal space. The last thing i wanted was to give the poor girl a heart attack. She already seemed a bit jumpy yesterday. As i made sure not to startle her I noticed Mister Roth eyeing me amusedly from beside her. He seemed to know what i was planning, stepping into the principal’s office with a wave in my direction. The jig was up.

“Hey. Lara, right?” I tried to make it sound like i definitely had not made sure to remember her name by writing it in my phone. I was horrible with names. She nodded, eyes scanning my face briefly before they moved to look past me. The shuffling of feet behind my back made me groan internally. Of course I hadn’t shaken my friends off that easily

“Yes. And you were Samantha? I-it said so on your nametag if i remember correctly,” I nodded and made a note to get Ashley to change my name tag later. Surprisingly I didn’t mind so much being called my full first name when it came from her. It flowed so well with her accent.

She glanced at each of the four people behind me. Her face was cold and calculating and absolutely stunning. But something made me stop and focus on her eyes. Her eyes weren’t as stony as her resting expression. They seemed apprehensive. Shy, almost. It was utterly adorable. I could have kept staring at her like a weirdo for hours. But the way she nervously looked between me and my group of friends made me snap out of it. Introductions were a thing. A thing that i hadn’t done yet for them.

“Lara, this is Jonah,” I said, gesturing with my entire body at the huge man on my right. He stuck out a massive arm for a handshake, His bright smile making him instantly look 1000% less intimidating. Lara must not have agreed with me on that, I thought to myself as she cautiously grasped Jonah’s large hand. “He’s the giant softy of the group,” I explained as he stepped back to let everyone else get introduced.

“Hi, I’m Alex,” the guy in question stated, springing forward to grab Lara’s still outstretched hand. The girl flinched at the sudden movement. Alex was never too good at first impressions. That kid was smart, sure. But horrible at social cues. “I’m in the year below these guys. You’re really pretty by the way. Sam didn’t tell us that much-” 

I cut Alex off quickly, watching Lara become more and more uncomfortable with each second. Alex’s hand was still firmly latched onto Lara’s. I tapped him on the shoulder and he seemed to snap out of it, hastily backing up and wiping his hands on his jeans. “S-sorry…”

“Alright...Now that Alex is done with...That...I’m his sister Kaz. And this is my girlfriend Lucya.” Lara shook both girls’ hands, expression friendly. That was good. At least she didn’t seem to care if someone was gay. “Lucya is also a foreigner,” Kaz casually explained. “Yes, I’m from Russia. But I have lived here in the United States since I was four.” 

Lara looked like she was going to say something, but was cut off by the warning bell. “You guys should get to class,” I said, ushering them away. “I have a free period right now.” My friends grudgingly walked away, disappearing down the hall in the crowd of students. “Sorry about them, they mean well.” Lara only chuckled at me, seeming much more relaxed now that she wasn’t crowded.

“It’s okay, Sam.” Her eyes widened and she blushed “I-I just-That’s what they called you so I thought Maybe you’d prefer to be called Sam instead of Samantha-” my giggle cut the girl off, and she didn’t pull away immediately when I leaned a hand on her shoulder to steady myself.

“Yeah. Usually people just call me Sam. I don’t really like being called Samantha, but at least it sounds good with that hot accent of yours.” Lara got even redder and I laughed even harder. She was just too easy to fluster. I was going to have so much fun with this. I proceeded to tease the new girl a bit more, trying to see just how red the poor girl could get.

If you asked me why I was having so much fun teasing her I couldn’t tell you. All I knew was that I loved seeing her flustered. Every once in awhile i seemed to find someone I just couldn’t help but tease. Like Liam Clark from grade seven. But then everyone started going around saying I had a crush on him, which was definitely not the case. Liam even came out as gay last year. After which I apologised for like a week straight for teasing him so much.

The door to the Principal’s office swung open, narrowly missing me as Lara pulled me out of the way. Mr. Roth looked at the two of us with with the same amused expression as before, the principal stepping up beside him as he moved out of the way.

“Alright, Miss Croft, your classes have been arranged.” He handed the teenager a piece of paper with a timetable on it. “Here’s your class schedule. The room numbers are beside the course codes for you.” Turning to look at me he continued. “Samantha Nishimura,” I internally cringed. Yeah, It only sounded good when Lara said it. “Seeing as you have a free period this morning, could you please give Miss Croft a quick tour of the school?”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Cochran” I smiled sweetly as I swung an arm over the taller girl’s shoulder. “You can leave the newbie to me. I promise I’ll take good care of her.” I grinned slyly at the blush on Lara’s cheeks, noting that it seemed to mostly be physical contact that triggered it. “I’ll make sure she’s fed and walked every day. And I’ll play with her lots,” I tried to contain my laughter at the confused expression of the British girl.

“Sam, I’m not a dog.” Even Mr. Roth let out a chuckle at how red his ward was getting. He ruffled Lara’s hair and looked down at her. “Maybe not, Lara. But that won’t stop Sam. She seems to go for easy targets to tease, and even if you are a Croft, you’re a pretty easy one to poke fun at.” Lara sputtered out something about Yorkies? I wasn’t sure what I had heard, to be honest. Must have been a British insult, i thought to myself.

All Mr. Roth did was mess up Lara’s hair even more, raising an eyebrow at his charge. “You’re gonna need to do better than that, young lady.” As we walked away Lara readjusted the messenger bag hanging from her shoulder. “And stay out of trouble!” Mr. Roth called out as we were rounding the corner to the main hall.

“No promises!” I yelled back as I checked the time on my phone, wondering if the cafeteria would have snacks for sale yet.


	4. Swearing at Doritos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man i hate depression. Sorry this took me so long. I was fretting over the last couple pages for over a month. I promise i'll try harder to get the next chapter up sooner this time. On a side note ive had no internet for 2 days now because our service provider sucks, so ive finished the chapter and uploaded it using my phone's data. Hopefully it doesnt use up too much. And i get my internet back...

The first place Sam took me was the cafeteria, where she proceeded to buy what would for me be a week’s worth of crisps and other junk foods. Watching her try to fit all of the snacks into her rucksack was rather amusing, though the loud string of expletives coming out of her mouth when one of the crisp bags popped open surprised me. I didn’t know someone could fit so many swear words into a sentence. Especially when it was a sentence about doritos.

I was doubled over from laughter when Sam turned to me with a sheepish expression. A light blush covered her freckle-splattered face. “Whoops. Sorry about that. I’m supposed to be showing you where your classes are and making a good impression. But here I am swearing at chips.”

I could feel a bit of a blush creeping up my own face as my hand was grabbed and Sam was dragging me down the hall. In her other hand she held up my timetable. I wasn’t used to physical contact, especially from a girl i had only just met. Yeah, that was it. I was just thrown off my guard. The pounding of my heart in my ears when the girl wrapped herself around my arm was just warriness. 

I chastised myself for being so awkward. Here Sam was trying to be friendly, showing me around the school, and I could barely hear her over my own embarrassment. She glanced over with a slightly worried expression and detached herself. Offering a quick apology for invading my personal space, she continued on down the hall, allowing me to follow behind her and compose myself.

“So this is room 208,” Sam said, pointing to the room to our right. “It’s the resource room. It’s where the kids who need a little extra help come to work. The guidance counselor is in the room attached to it. Her name is Miss Halloway, but she likes to be called her first name. Alison.” Sam gestured to the left side of the corridor. “And this is 207. It’s Mr. Roth’s room.”

A half an hour later we were sitting at a lunch table as Sam worked on a project on her laptop. She said it was for her film studies class. In between typing she would glance up at me and tell me things about the school, or what courses she had. “We even have the same English Lit class,” she exclaimed around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie. For some reason I found this action less disgusting than usual.

The period passed, and Sam packed up her bag again, slinging it onto her back. She then threw an arm around my shoulder and proceeded to walk me to our English Literature classroom. The halls crowded with teenagers hurrying to their next class, or loitering around their lockers. Some of them greeted Sam, or remarked about me being new here. She brushed them off as her arm slipped down to encircle my waist. “Back off guys. I saw her first. She’s mine for the day”

I was grateful for the shorter girl’s presence. While everyone seemed interested in me, Sam managed to keep them from bombarding me with questions. She assured me that in a day or so everything would settle down.

As we parted ways at the end of our shared class, I couldn’t help the feelings of anxiety creeping back up on me. My way to the Strength room for my next class felt much longer without Sam by my side. Every time someone brushed past me i had to fight my instinct to ‘defend myself’. A girl to my left slammed her locker shut and i stopped breathing, having a panic attack over the memory of a shotgun being fired into the ground point-blank centimeters away from my head.

My only solace for the next hour before Sam told me to meet her back at the cafeteria for lunch, was seeing the friendly face of the large bloke Sam had introduced as Jonah. She was right. He really was a softie. When he saw me beside the door to the Strength room he sat down beaide me. His voice was soft as he told me it was alright. He said he still had panick attacks too. He didn’t mention what his were about, and he didnt ask me about mine. 

Jonah helped me up, firmly grasping my arm as he let ke right myself. We walked into the class together and he showed me to the teacher. “Mr. Grant, this is my new friend, Lara. Be nice,” he threatened with a chuckle. There was no malice in him, but the warning still stood.


	5. Roosters are Evil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Internet is out again. This time its been 8 days so far. Have a chapter while i suffer without it. On the bright side, i have a job interview on Friday! :3

I had mixed feelings about watching Lara walk up to the lunch table with Jonah. On one hand, it was great to see that she was getting along with him. On the other, seeing her get along with him made me jealous. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was just that I had wanted to get to know her before everyone else.

I put my weird jealousy aside as i scooted sideways a bit to let Lara sit beside me. Alex was late like usual, probably talking with his friends about that card game. Magic something. And Kaz and Lucya were in line for the school lunches. I never understood how people ate those things, but today was chicken nugget day, apparently.

As the british girl sat down beside me, i heard Jonah say something about one of her scars. My interest was instantly piqued and i joined in with a “yeah where did you get that scar?” I probably sounded annoying, but this girl was just so interesting, and her scars must have had cool stories, right?

“O-oh,” Lara stuttered adorably, “Well this one was actually from an angry crow.” Jonah and i both stared at her, confused. She hastily elaborated. “I accidentally got to close to its nest, and it was protecting its hatchlings. Birds can be pretty aggressive. This one,” she said, pulling her shirt down a bit and pointing at a long scar on her collar bone, “was from a rooster Roth owned when I was seven.”

“Roosters are evil,” Kaz chimed in as her and Lucya sat together on the other side of the table. “I went to my grandma’s farm last week and one tried to chase me while I was getting the eggs. My grandma just laughed at me the whole time.”

“Yeah, you were pretty adorable,” Lucya chuckled, smirking at her girlfriend’s blush. The tall Russian girl turned towards the rest of our group as she ignored her girlfriend’s embarrassed arguments. “Her grandmother sent me videos of Kaz’s day there. She even fell in mud while she was feeding the pigs.”

Lucya took out her phone, searching through her videos. She found the one she was looking for and hit play, setting the device on the lunch table and moving to restrain her embarrassed girlfriend before she could grab it. Everyone at the table was laughing at the video, and a few other people came over to see what was happening.

I looked over at Lara. I could see she was getting uncomfortable in the crowd of teenagers gathering at our table. I also noticed she hadn’t brought any food over. She honestly looked like she was about to throw up. Not good. I had to get her away from everyone to get some air. Something in my gut told me she wasn’t ready to have twenty people crowding around her and shoving each other to see Lucya’s phone.

Jonah seemed to notice too, so I motioned to him to keep everyone busy as I stood up. Lara’s nervous eyes were on me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the cafeteria, ignoring the deep red blush quickly spreading across her face. We moved towards the door leading to the music hall as the rooster in the video started crowing.

We went up the stairs and into the girl’s second floor bathroom. When Lara opened her mouth to say something I interrupted her, dismissing her confused stare with “I didn’t want to go to the bathroom alone, and it's not like I could take Jonah.”

Lara gave me a look that said “I know you’re lying. And that you did it for me. Thanks.” Wait no I was wrong. She said it out loud. The echoing was because we were in a bathroom. I threw a sheepish grin her way as I opened my backpack.

“So I noticed you didn't have a lunch on you. I know it’s not much but here,” I handed her my last bag of doritos. She smiled as she opened the bag.

“You know eating in here is disgusting, right?” Lara took a bite out of a chip.

I reached into the cellophane bag and stole a dorito. “Beats having to share with Alex,” I shrugged. “He always eats them all.”

By the time we got back to the cafeteria there were three more people sitting at our table. Jonah noticed us and made a move to tell them they had to leave, but i just waved to him that we were going outside. I pulled Lara back the way we had come and out the door by the stairwell.

“Sam,” Lara stopped walking, causing me to be pulled to a halt. “Where are we going?”

“Well,” I smirked. “I was going to take you behind the bleachers to make out.” The blush was back and stronger than ever.

“Samantha!”

Lara’s voice sent a tingle up my spine. Why did that keep happening? “I’m kidding, you big dork,” I laughed, not entirely sure I was telling the truth. Whoa. What was up with me today?

I pointed towards a picnic table sitting off by the edge of the school grounds, in the middle of a shady stand of maple trees. “I thought we could chat more without subjecting you to like fifty billion people being around.”


	6. PMS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed or unfinished. I've had really bad depression induced writer's block. But hopefully getting something updated will help to get me back on track. That and all the free time i have with work cutting back hours. I'm going to need to get a new job that i can actually afford to live off of though.

A couple weeks had passed by, and Lara was finally starting to fit in here. Break out of her shell, in a sense. She was still by no means an extrovert like me, but I could tell she was getting a bit more used to life here in the good ol’ U S of A. Hell, she was already ahead of me in our English Lit class. Must be the Britishness…

And that was the reason I found myself sitting on the couch at her place on a Thursday after school, nose deep in Macbeth. We had an assignment due on Monday that I couldn’t fail. I’d called my dad after the bell and told him that i wouldn’t be back home for dinner because I was studying with my friends, and for once most of what I said was actually true.

Lara was halfway through explaining to me the significance of the whole “None of woman born” thing with Macduff being born through C-section. I was finally starting to feel like maybe i had this assignment in the bag.

At one point i kind of zoned out, just watching the cute nerd rant about Shakespeare. The way she lit up whenever she talked about historical stuff was adorable. I could tell she was stressed out this week, so one of the reasons i asked her to help me with my homework was so she could relax and nerd out. She even had some old hardcovers of all of Shakespeare’s plays. She had A LOT of books to be honest.

The freezing rain started at around 6-not long after we had finished the takeout Roth bought. Quickly blanketing the roads of Maplefield and making them impossible to drive on. I tried telling Lara I would just walk home, but her and Roth were having none of it.

Ten minutes later I was calling my dad and telling him I was safe but staying the night with my friends because of the weather. Lara was starting to look stressed again. I could see it in the clenching of her perfect jawline. I was starting to think i was part of the reason she was stressed, and that maybe i should have argued a little harder that I didn’t need to spend the night.

“Are you guys sure you’re ok with me staying over?” I said as I hunched down and looked through the more modern novels Lara had on her shelves. Behind me I could hear Lara flipping through pages. The sound of the paper definitely seemed rather irritated.

“Yes, Sam,” she drawled with a hint of a chiding bite to it. “Roth and I would much rather know you are here safe than worry about whether or not you slipped and blacked out from a concussion on a sidewalk somewhere walking home. And from the tone of the conversation, your father isn’t too fond of you walking home either.” Lara turned around to look at me and sighed when she saw that I was crying.  
“Samantha, what’s wrong?” Her voice was suddenly so soft. It made me wonder if maybe i had only imagined that bit of edge. I sniffled back a sob and shook my head.

“Nah, it’s nothing. I think I’m just PMSing.” I wiped my eyes and took a shallow breath before continuing. “I just can’t help feeling like you’re mad that I have to stay the night, but I know I’m probably just overthinking and it’s just because you’re stressed out from school or something, and I’m probably just being too sensitive because of my stupid uterus getting ready to fucking shred itself.” I was crying again. Through my tears I could see Lara grab the box of Kleenex on her desk and turn towards me. Before I knew what was happening, I was wrapped up in a gentle hug from the taller Brit. 

Lara handed me her box of Kleenex as she pulled away, a sheepish expression crossing her features. “Sam, I’m definitely not mad at you. I’m sorry. I’m just not used to all this friends stuff.”

“Yeah that’s obvious,” I laughed. “The first time we hung out outside of school you basically took me on a date.” I could see Lara starting to blush. “People don’t usually go to a fancy Italian restaurant with a reservation for two to hang out.” She opened her mouth to speak but I kept talking “It was nice though. Hell, I wish guys were as nice as you on the first date,” I winked. “You’re such a dork. It’s adorable. At least you made that mistake with me. Oh my God could you imagine if you did that to ALEX?”

Lara’s face was beet red and she was sputtering like a broken engine. Part of me wished it had been a real date. “Ugh. I thought we agreed never to mention that again. I told you I didn’t exactly have many friends growing up.” I smiled at how cute she was.

“Oh sweetie, I know. I’m just teasing you. It’s another part of having friends.” Lara sighed as she shook her head, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to normal human things.”

“Sure you will, you massive dork. You’re one of us after all.” I chuckled when Lara protested that she was actually a socially awkward android instead of a person. “See, you’re already getting used to sarcasm.” She threw a pillow at my face. “And violence. Now how about I pry you away from those musty old books and we watch something on Netflix. Roth told me you’ve never seen How To Train Your Dragon. And I cannot stand for such an injustice.”

“Alright. I’ll try not to point out all of the inaccuracies like I did with Mulan.”

“And I’ll try not to burn the popcorn this time.”


End file.
